Officials confirm bodies are missing Iowa girls

Dec. 11, 2012
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Lyric Cook-Morrissey, 10, shown in this undated family photo, was last seen Friday, July 13, 2012, by her grandmother as she and her cousin, Elizabeth Collins were leaving for a bike ride in Evansdale, Iowa. / Gannett/File

by Emily Schettler, The Des Moines Register

by Emily Schettler, The Des Moines Register

DES MOINES, Iowa -- Two bodies found last week in a secluded area of a rural park are those of two missing Iowa cousins, the Iowa State Medical Examiner's Office confirmed Monday.

The families of Lyric Cook-Morrissey and Elizabeth Collins have been notified of the news, Capt. Rick Abben of the Black Hawk County Sheriff's Department said in a news release Monday afternoon.

Abben said the confirmation is the only thing that has been released to authorities; a full report from the medical examiner's office will be forwarded to law enforcement after testing is complete.

The girls' bodies were found around 12:45 p.m. Wednesday by hunters at the Seven Bridges Wildlife Area in Bremer County, Iowa, about 25 miles north of Evansdale, where the girls were last seen alive.

Sheriff's deputies walked through parts of the 125-acre park last summer during the search for the girls, who disappeared July 13, said Bremer County Sheriff Dewey Hildebrandt. However, the girls' bodies were found in a remote area of Seven Bridges that is not directly accessible by vehicles, and it's unlikely authorities looked there, he said.

"You know, clearly if we would have felt that there was a chance something was out there we would have organized some things and gotten some people together," he said.

Their grandmother reported seeing them on their bicycles about 12:15 p.m. on July 13. Those bikes and Elizabeth's purse and cellphone were found about four hours later along a recreational trail at nearby Meyers Lake. Lyric was 10 at the time and Elizabeth was 8.

Seven Bridges has canoe access to the Wapsipinicon River and is a popular spot for hunting, fishing and camping, Hildebrandt said.

"There are people that use it," he said. "That's what gives me some hope that if maybe someone saw something, and now with this discovery, they'll come forward and provide the necessary information."

On Monday, Hildebrandt declined to release the 911 call from hunters who discovered the bodies. He said the recording is part of an active investigation.